Sunday, July 16, 2017

The Wonder Preah Vihea Temple

Preah Vihea is a great of art and architecture, a cultural jewel with a triumph of history spanning millennia, and then this wonder temple was registered as a World Heritage site by Unesco on July 7, 2008 in Quebec, Canada. Preah Vihear temple is an masterpiece of Khmer creative genius, a unique testimony to a cultural tradition or civilization, an outstanding architectural or technological ensemble, or a landscape illustrating a significant stage in human history.

About ten ancient Kings were involved in the construction, but most work was done by only six of them. The temple was begun by King Yasovarman I (889-910 AD) who build to the foundations and the east-ern stairs which rise nearly a kilometer from the forested plains. King Suryavarman I, (1002-1050) and his son King Udayadityavarman II (1050-1068) carried on, laying out most of the monolithic features present today. King Jayavarman VI (1080-1107), King Dharanindravarman I (1107-1112), and King Suryavarman II (1113-1150) added the finishing touches. The Preah Vihear temple was dedicated to Shiva, a God of the Brahman religions, but it was not cut off from Buddhism because most of the Kings who helped to build this temple understood Buddhism.

The temple's layout is complex. It has four levels with four courtyards, each containing five Gopuras (entrance pavilions). Since the ancient time till now, Preah Vihear became a place of pilgrimage and sacred worship for kings and commoners alike, as it is a styli shed representation of Mount Meru, home of the Hindu gods.